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Entrepreneur Magazine Writer's Guidelines

Our Mission
Business ownership is not what it used to be. Entrepreneur helps entrepreneurs thrive in today's fast-paced environment, offering actionable information and practical inspiration that successful business owners can use to achieve their vision of growth.

Our Readers
Our readers are energetic entrepreneurs who are not content with the status quo. They're risk-takers who thrive on growth and innovation, constantly seeking cutting-edge ideas to improve their businesses. They're the thinkers shaping the new face of entrepreneurship.

Our Content
Entrepreneur reports on innovative methods and strategies to help readers improve their business operations. We also cover current issues and trends that affect entrepreneurial companies, as well as new business ideas and opportunities. We provide detailed how-to information in an entertaining, intriguing and evocative fashion, with a writing style that is punchy, sophisticated and chatty.

What We're Looking For
Don't give us the obvious, or merely touch on the surface of a subject. Our readers are not beginners, and they don't have time to waste reading what they already know.

We're looking for in-depth reporting, with information culled from many sources to give readers a broad perspective on a topic. Can you offer a fresh angle on a familiar subject? Can you convey atmosphere and personality when interviewing entrepreneurs and experts? Can you elicit interesting quotes from people, and find sources who don't say the same old thing in the same old way? Can you write about business with authority and passion? Then you're the kind of writer we're looking for.

Features
Features are 1,700 words, including sidebars, charts and/or boxes. Types of features we are seeking include:

* In-depth articles examining how a current business issue, such as the tight labor market or the health-insurance crisis, affects small businesses.
* Psychological topics, such as "Are your shortcomings killing your company?" or "What is the line between taking advantage of opportunities and being an opportunist?"
* How-to articles, such as how to get your product into Wal-Mart, how to bounce back from a business failure, how to stay healthy and fit despite the demands of your business, or how to sell your product to the U.S. government.

Columns:
Entrepreneur's upfront section, "Edge," features brief, punchy articles on news and trends affecting small-business owners. We purchase short (250-400 words) articles for $1 per word in the following topic areas:

* Money – business financing, financial management and personal finance issues. Recent examples: Is the housing boom hurting investment in small business?; A group of small businesses is suing the major credit-card issuers over excessive fees; Unusual ways entrepreneurs are financing their businesses
* Marketing – sales and marketing issues. Recent examples: Getting your product on a reality TV show; "Techfluential" consumers – who are they and why you should care; What are the current marketing cliché's?
* Management – management and operations issues. Recent examples: Some retail stores and restaurants are starting to ban children--should you?; After years of only targeting big chains, more malls are seeking small boutiques again; More states are encouraging "managed-competition" health care.
* Technology – tech issues. Recent examples: "Green" web hosting is a new trend; Should you send your IT person to hacker bootcamp?; What it's really like to switch to VoIP in your office
* Viewpoint – thought-provoking, controversial first-person essay on some aspect of entrepreneurship. Could cover politics, ethics, personal life and more. (500 words)
* Miscellaneous – We also purchase short (300- to 500-word) articles for the Edge section that do not fall into the above categories, but simply report on interesting trends or ideas. For example: entrepreneurs who are trying to revive products from the '80s; what your sleeping position says about you as an entrepreneur; how the Internet is revolutionizing the crafts industry.

We also buy Snapshot articles – Brief (150-word) profiles of entrepreneurs, focusing specifically on what is innovative about their company in one of the following areas: sales/marketing, business financing/financial management, management strategies, or technology.

Other columns are not open to freelancers. However, if you have an idea for a new column—or you think you could write better than one of our existing columnists—query us and prove it.

StartUp. Targeted at start-up entrepreneurs, "StartUp" is a mini-magazine within a magazine. The monthly feature within "StartUp" is open to freelancers. It is 2,000 words long and covers how-to topics of interest to start-up entrepreneurs—for example, how to start a specific type of business (like a toy company or a pet products business); the best places to find start-up capital; how to overcome the mental roadblocks that keep you from starting a business.

Where to Start

* Please read several issues of the magazine before querying us. Pay particular attention to the columns. We have dozens of columns on topics including management, sales and marketing, business ideas, technology and finance. Many of the queries we receive are rejected because they duplicate topics covered in our columns. Only a topic that is too extensive to be covered in one of our columns warrants feature coverage.
* Submit queries only. Full-length manuscripts are discouraged.
* Queries should be emailed to queries@entrepreneur.com.
* Queries should describe the topic clearly and succinctly. Avoid vagueness and generalities. Be as specific as possible about what aspects of the subject you will cover, people you will interview, how the story will help our readers and why you're qualified to write it.
* Allow a minimum of six weeks for a response. No phone calls, please.
* Include a return address and both day and evening phone numbers on all correspondence.
* Entrepreneur Media buys first worldwide rights and pays upon acceptance.
* Entrepreneur Media assumes no responsibility for unsolicited manuscripts, photos or tapes.

Sample copies
You can find Entrepreneur at most newsstands and bookstores, or you can order the magazine by sending $7.20 ($4.00/issue + $3.20 shipping) to: Entrepreneur Media, P.O. Box 432, Newburgh, NY 12551.

Writing Opportunity: Entrepreneur Magazine